[hammerhead611]

you guys talking about a gafftop catfish?

I think most are talking about the hardhead catfish...the little bastards that aren't as big as your hand, yet fight like a 20# catfish.

But, gaftops also have the poisonous barbed fins.

I got finned by a small hardhead one time, right between my thumb and forefinger. Hurt isn't the word for the pain that I was in. My whole hand swole up and turned blood red.

 

[guam_bomb80]

I was on a charter boat once and tried to dehook a hardhead and it fell fin first on my foot. The captain grabbed a bottle of bleach and poured it over my foot for a few secconds and the pain stopped after the initial sting of the bleach. Fished the whole day no issues and no swelling. I keep some bleach with me when I fish inshore now

 

[wackydaddy]

I don't say this as a joke, but i've heard you can urinate on the stung area if you have no other alternatives...

 

[20simmons sea skiff]

the sail cats are good to eat. fresh water catfish will hurt you also. there is a lot of different saltwater cats. they have fish kills, and a lot of people step on them at night, or buried in sand

 

[nextstep]

i had about a 4 lb hardhead pectoral stuck in my hand fishing on the 3 mile back in the 80's. he was stuck in so good i had to strain to pull him off with the other hand. good thing i had already had a few buds. passed out in the lawn chair, woke up the next morning blood was everywhere (which was good, it cleaned the wound) whole arm was swollen twice its normal size and hurt like hell. stopped at the bridge tenders booth (bridge tender was a guy named catfish) ask him what to do. he said he would go to the hospital. ask him if he had ever been stuck. he said why do you think they call me catfish. i didnt go to the hospital, young, dumb and broke. swelling went down in about 3 days and i was fine.:thumbsup:

 

[NoMoSurf]

Got stuck in the meat of my hand below my thumb, then broke the fish off. I was in my kayak @ 200 yards out and had to paddle in with the spine still in. Wife helped me get it out but ended up in the emergency room. 2nd worst pain I have ever felt.

P_

I was about 2 miles out on Biloxi on my kayak and caught one that was about 4-5lbs. Biggest one I had ever seen. My dumb butt brought him over the side to dehook. About that time he fell off. Sideways right onto my foot! The side barb went all the way in, in between the bones on the big joint on my big toe. and he stuck there... flopping!!! I grabbed him and snatched him out. Big spurt of gore squirted out. I IMMEDIATLY called my wife to come get me from the dock. She was shopping. I was screaming in pain, but she thought that I was laughting. Finally she got it! I started paddling and was fighting an outgoing tide. About halfway in I started to pass out so I dropped anchor and leaned forward in a ball, So I couldn't fall out. When I came to, I pulled anchor and paddled some more. Started passing out again, so repeated process. I think I went throught that 5 or 6 times. Finally, I was about 200yards out, but couldn't paddle any more. My wife was on shore, but couldn't figure out what i was doing. She called my cell, but I was incoherent. She got some guys loading their boat to come get me. I threw them a rope and "skied' behind them back to the dock. They threw me in her sisters car and rushed my to the ER. My wife and her son stayed and loaded my kayak back on the trailer and drove my truck. After the ER, I slept for about a day and a half.

That was over a year ago and my foot is still tender. Any cut or any sort of pain on that toe is amplified to this day. The pain was incredible and really strange. My foot didn't hurt, or my leg even. It was like every pain receptor in my body was going off.

As for the no venom, comments. That was thought to be true for many years. But they have now found that Hardheads and stingrays do in fact have venom. It is a neurotoxin that attacks pain receptors and also causes necrosis of the tissue sounding the wound.

 

[xxxxxxkidsoncoffee]

x2 on the bleach. I've cut my foot wide open on barnicles, soaked it in pure bleach for about 20 minutes, and I was good to go. Cut my foot a previous time on barnicles without knowing the bleach trick and wound up at the hospital from poisioning. I also know several commercial guys that use bleach when they're barbed by snapper and cats. The stuff works wonders, but you gotta use it as quick as possible.

 

[MULLET HUNTER]

I don't say this as a joke, but i've heard you can urinate on the stung area if you have no other alternatives...

I'd be more than happy to piss on you and a few others around here.... Let me know when you step on one.....:whistling:

 

[robbiewoodcutter]

i was told as a child when stung by a catfish to squeeze the crap out of its belly,yes its poop, and rub it on the sting. its always worked for me.try it im sure youve all had worse on your hands.and as far as the tourist theres catfish just about everywhere in the united states if you havent heard they will get you then your in for a lesson.and ive never been stung by a gafftop sailcat but ive ate a lot of them.

 

[PompChaser315]

A couple years back i was doing some kayak fishing down in Cedar Key. After a couple hours of slow fishing catching nothing but cats, i decided to stretch my legs for a bit on an oyster bed.. i was wearing a pair of knee high rubber boots because it was muddy as hell where I was fishing.. Well i decided I was gonna throw out a few timez from the oyster bed.. after my third catfish in a row i started getting frustrated.. Like a dumbass i went to kick the cat back in the water, and one of his side spikes went through my boot and broke off.. Half the spike was in my boot and the other half was in my foot, so i couldnt even take my boot off.. Was one of the most painful things I have experienced and had to cut my boot off in order to get it out. I was miserable.

I also know of a guy who was drunk fishing on the beach and went to kick in a catfish while he was barefoot.. the spike went under his big toenail and broke off, he instantly passed out from the pain.. I thought mine was bad but i couldnt imagine that..

 

[Chris L]

I was releasing a little guy with pliers a few years ago. Picked him up by the hook to let him fall off. He swung sideways and barbed me in the meat of my thumb. 10 minutes went by and I had to stop fishing and drive home. Sweating my balls off and chained smoked the 25 min drive back. Went out the next day and bought 14" needle nose pliers.

 

[Smarty]

I had one nail the side of my thumb about 35yrs ago on the bank of Bayou Chico. It went straight to the bone. That was the last fish I ever picked up by hand. I've used fish tongs since then to get a hold of everything including little pinfish and even for live shrimp :laughing: Might look chicken shit using tongs for everything but haven't been nailed since then. That crap hurt!!! :no:

 

[inshorecatch]

If when you get hit you rub the slim into the wound it will neutralize the toxin. I have been hit several times and have never had any problems after rubbing slim into wound.

 

[mitchell master]

i read if the stinger gets left in your body it can cause major issues. even amputation.

i went to move a gaftsail/blue catfish with my shoe its spine broke off in the joint of my big toe.buddy you want to know pain.was in the hospital for surgery had to stay a week.

 

[stevesmi]

okay so some of you are saying freshwater catfish can do the same damage as sea cats? i dunno about that. I've read the sea cats have actual poison and have stronger spikers than their freshwater cousins. what about those guys that stick their hands in those tubs and pull out huge catfish in freshwater? forgot what thats called but they do it with their bare hands and they never get pricked.

am i wrong?

 

[Tightline]

If when you get hit you rub the slim into the wound it will neutralize the toxin. I have been hit several times and have never had any problems after rubbing slim into wound.

I'm supprised this answer hasn't came up sooner. I heard about this years ago. When the time came to try it, I was hesitant, but the pain was so bad that I didn't care any more. rubbed that slime all over the wound, and was pain free in just a few minutes. What you got to lose ?

 

[GASeminole]

I was walking on that island across from AJs in May of 2011 and stepped on the pectoral spine of a sailcat that someone had buried out of sight, just under the sand. It had been dead for some time and was rotten and dried up. When I stepped on it and then instinctively yanked my foot off the ground, the carcass came out of the sand and was hanging from my foot. I hopped around on one foot for a second with it hanging there while I processed what had just happened and then yanked it out and threw it as far as I could into the water. Walked it off and laughed about it because I had consumed a few beers that day and wasn't feeling much pain, but the next day when I woke up it definitely hurt and was pretty sore for a few days.

It took awhile to heal and I still have a reddish mark from the puncture wound over a year later whereas most other scars I have are white.

 

[grey ghost]

okay so some of you are saying freshwater catfish can do the same damage as sea cats? i dunno about that. I've read the sea cats have actual poison and have stronger spikers than their freshwater cousins. what about those guys that stick their hands in those tubs and pull out huge catfish in freshwater? forgot what thats called but they do it with their bare hands and they never get pricked.

am i wrong?

Alot of PFF are calling it stung, i have always called it "GETTING FINNED" anyway freshwater cats hurt, BUT not like salt cats, they do have barbed poision fins. I have never tried the bleach trick, but have slimed my finned wounds many times!! LOL:thumbup:

 

[lcruiser]

LOL..... when I was about 6 one went all the way through my foot in Daytona on the pier.....Whaaaaaaaaaa..... the cure all....put tobacco on it and suck it up boy.... LOL

 

[10282]

What the hell is a sea catfish????


And they have stingers????:blink: